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The Principled Investigator - July 20, 2026

The Principled Investigator - July 20, 2026 The massive response to the OMB proposal sent a strong message to the administration that the American people will not accept political interference in the grant award process. A whopping  496,775 comments  were submitted, with  95% of those posted so far  in opposition. Major themes included concerns about the use of political appointees to override peer review, baseless termination of grants, and favoring grants that align with political priorities. While the proposed rules would impact numerous sectors, the overwhelming response was due to the organized mobilization from the scientific community.  The final rule has to be published in the Federal Register by September 1 in order to go into effect on October 1, the start of the fiscal year.  There is still time to  urge Congress to act  in opposition to the proposal.  Keep the letters and calls coming! Thanks to all who submitted comments, contact...

RCR Session on Collaborative Research - Bedside to Bench and Back -Tuesday July 21st 1pm

P lease join us on Tuesday, July 21 st  from 1:00 – 2:30 pm for an RCR Session on Collaborative Research - Bedside to Bench and Back, presented by David Seder, (Chief Critical Care), Teresa May (Critical Care Intensivist), Christine Lord (Clinical Trials Navigator), Sergey Ryzhov (Faculty Scientist III), Matt Lynes (Faculty Scientist), Joanne deKay (Scientific Manager).     We will discuss collaboration as it relates to the Team Science efforts of our research group consisting of the Neurocritical Care Service Line, the Myocardial Biology and Heart Failure Laboratory and The Lynes Laboratory.  We will review the opportunities that our Team Science approach to studying the care of critically ill patients gives us to ask new and important questions about how to improve treatment at MaineHealth, as well as challenges for integrating a large group of different types of scientists while maintaining a focus on providing the best possible care for patients.    Wha...

Trump administration ends dozens of grants for studying patient care

 Science Magazine Trump administration ends dozens of grants for studying patient care “Nonaward” notices discontinue grants from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality whose annual funds had been stalled by Laura Martin Agudelo Richard Grant, a primary care physician with Kaiser Permanente, had been waiting since the fall of 2025 for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to release the latest funds for the multiyear grant it awarded him in 2024. A few days ago, when an email from the agency showed up, he thought the money was finally coming. Instead, AHRQ was notifying him of the grant’s cancellation. The email, he says, was “the final nail in the coffin.” The agency’s justification was essentially that his research now didn’t align with its priorities, which the letter noted includes “solution-oriented approaches in health disparities research.” Yet Grant’s project focused on how to better coordinate care for people with multiple chronic illnesses, such as...

This week’s community yoga express - Tues/Thurs in person and on zoom

  Join me in the Scarborough main conference room on this week or on zoom: Tuesday July 21 and Thursday July 23 8:00am-8:30am https://maine.zoom.us/j/4625543963 If you are joining in person in the main conf room in Scarborough, mats are available in the lobby closet. Come early to make yourself a space for practice.

Washington Week in Science - July 17, 202

  A Weekly Update of Policy News and Select Funding Opportunities Compiled by  Van Scoyoc Associates View this email in your browser July 17, 2026 Health   CDC director nominee pressed on vaccines at Senate hearing  Nominees for the positions of CDC director and assistant secretary for preparedness and response (ASPR) faced tricky questions and some frustration Wednesday from senators on both sides of the aisle. Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD (R-La.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, asked ASPR nominee Sean Kaufman about his suggestion in a now-deleted LinkedIn post that countries who gave infants a hepatitis B vaccine at birth had the highest rates of hepatitis B. Erica Schwartz, MD, MPH, the CDC director nominee, also came in for some of Cassidy's wrath. "I felt you were always trying not to answer my questions, which was disappointing," he said to Schwartz at the end of the hearing. "I'm here personally liking you but feeling I have...

Even f you can’t run a marathon….you can still support our MHIR fall marathoners and support research and charity!

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Support our Marathoners We have several MaineHealth colleagues in research who are in training to compete in marathons to raise money for worthy cases this fall!  In this series, we can live vicariously through Liz Scharnetzki (Philadelphia Marathon in November), Liz Bergst, and Anyonya Guntur (both running the Chicago Marathon in October), who share the motivation and progress in their training! Please consider supporting their efforts by sponsoring their participation in their races! Anyonya Guntur just completed a half marathon yesterday in Sao Paulo as part of his training: ************************************************** Liz Bergst (and her family) and Noni Guntur will participate in the Chicago Marathon in October 2026 If you’ve been out in the parking lot at 81 Research Drive at the end of the day lately, you might have seen Faculty Scientist Anyonya Guntur and RTE Manager Liz Bergst and a group of running friends heading out into the neighborhood for a training run. Liz a...